Why Starfire Hates Flowers
by Jurodan
Summary: When the Titans go to the Park, Starfire learns something from the flowers there, something that hurts her deeply. RobinStarfire TerraBeast Boy


Disclaimer: Since I obviously don't own the copyright to Teen Titans, I'm taking advantage of the Fair Use Clause of the Copyright laws to write a story with them in it. Who knew the government would protect the little guys? Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

Author's Note: I don't know why or how I got this idea, but it's fluff. Dear god I thought I'd never actually write stuff like this… but a note, this is before Terra was revealed as the traitor in season two. Oh, and why I use Terra? Because I can see her doing this, the same can't be said about Raven…

Why Starfire Hates Flowers

The park on summer's day: the beautiful weather, the happy children running around playing games, even the Titans were out and about, enjoying the relative calm of the city. Robin and Cyborg were cooking, and getting yelled at by Beast Boy who hated the fact they were making hamburgers and ribs. Raven sat under a tree, reading an old book with yellowed pages. Terra had disappeared for a little while, wandering about with Starfire.

"OOOH!" Starfire gleamed clasping her hands together as they stumbled across a small field of flowers, "Are they not beautiful?"

Terra nodded, then bent down and picked one of them, for a moment she admired it then began pulling the leaves off, "He loves me… he loves me not…"

Starfire stared at the blonde haired blue-eyed girl for a moment, confused, "What is it that you are doing, friend Terra?"

Terra looked up, smiling, "Oh, it's just something I used to do as a kid… you pick the petals off a flower to tell if someone loves you." She went back to picking and found herself looking at the last one, smiling she pulled it off, "He loves me…"

Starfire went wide-eyed, latching onto Terra in a bone-breaking embrace, "OH! That is so wonderful!"

Terra squirmed in the embrace, "Star… can't… breathe…"

Starfire released Terra, smiling and blushing madly, "I am sorry, I did not know this was customary, I would have tried it before…" her blush covered the rest of her cheeks, turning them a deep red.

"Hey guys, lunch is served!" Robin yelled out, holding a platter as he carried it to the table.

"Oooh, lunch…" Terra smiled, starting to run off, but finding herself alone she looked back, "…you coming Star?"

"I will be there in moment one." Terra blinked, 'she really needs to work on her grammar' then shrugged and ran off to get lunch.

Starfire waited until Terra was out of sight then floated over to a pretty flower and plucked it as Terra had. Taking a moment to look at it, she began pulling off the petals, "he loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not…" She pulled the last petal away and tears nearly fell from her eyes… he loved her not. Starfire's heart broke and she fell unceremoniously to the ground, all happy thoughts leaving her.

Robin didn't love her.

Sniffling, with tears falling down her face, she lost all semblance of an appetite, deciding to let the others enjoy their day while retreating to the tower.

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Robin finished off his third hamburger, not surprising since he could often eat an entire ham for breakfast. Swallowing what he had in his mouth, he looked around, "Has anyone seen Starfire?"

"Dude…" Food flew from Beast Boy's mouth, stopped only inches from Raven by a well-timed shield, "… she was with Terra."

Terra swallowed what she had in her mouth then looked at Beast Boy then Robin, "She said she'd be here in a minute. She doesn't know what she's missing." Robin nodded and Terra began on her sixth hamburger, causing Beast Boy to pale a bit.

Robin ate his next hamburger quickly, then got up to look for Star when Cyborg grabbed him, "If you think you're getting away from a rematch that easily, you're wrong."

Robin opened his mouth to protest, but then his competitive nature took over, "You're on."

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Starfire opened the doors to the tower and stumbled inside, far too tired and sad to truly think. All she knew was she had to go to her room. She could be alone there, safe there. Walking all the way, unable to think of a single thing to cheer herself up, she entered her room and promptly fell onto her bed, crying.

'He loves you not…'

Her own words haunted her, why had she done that? Why had she picked a flower and learned that Robin didn't love her? Why was Terra so lucky? Lying on her pink, heart shaped bed, she crawled to the center and held herself close, unable to do much more than cry. It wasn't long before sleep took her.

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The others were packing to leave the park before Robin noticed that Starfire was gone. "Hey, has anyone seen Starfire?" Beast Boy, Terra, and Cyborg looked at him confused, Raven raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Robin looked around again, "When was the last time anyone saw Starfire?"

"She never came for lunch, even after you were playing Cyborg in two-man football." Raven stated matter-of-factly.

All eyes fell upon Terra, the last person to have seen Starfire. Terra, for her part was dumbfounded, having spent all her time with Beast Boy after eating lunch, "I… she was right behind me when I went to get lunch. I don't know where she is."

Cyborg placed a hand on Robin's shoulders, "It's alright man, don't worry, just call her on her communicator, I'm sure she's fine. She's probably flying to look at the sunset or something."

Robin nodded, taking out his communicator, "Starfire, Starfire respond…" Waiting just a moment, he started again, "Starfire respond." The rest of the group stood around, waiting for anything besides the static. They waited in vain.

"Terra, Beast Boy, search the park, Cyborg, Raven, search the city. I'm going to check the tower, just in case she headed back." He nodded curtly, turning and leaving without waiting for the Titans to get to their assignments.

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The communicator had woken Starfire up; in fact, she had managed to open it but then she had heard Robin's voice and had closed it before making another sound. "Robin…" she murmured to herself, placing it down on her nightstand. She pulled her legs in, curling herself up into a ball, fresh tears rolling down her face. She couldn't stand this, why had she plucked that flower? Why didn't he love her? "Robin…" She murmured to herself again, and was silent.

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Millions of thoughts filled Robin's mind. His analytical, and slightly pessimistic nature had taken over as thoughts of Starfire being captured by different villains, being alone, or worse filled his mind. He was finding it hard to concentrate on the road, but continued to weave in and out of traffic as if it weren't there.

She had to be all right, she had to… he would never forgive himself if a member of the team was hurt, if… she was hurt. An eerie calm seemed to surround him as he considered the prospects of loosing Starfire. He couldn't. He wouldn't. There was no way he would lose Starfire, it just wasn't an option, the very thought of it created a pit in the bottom of his stomach.

He loved her. He had never told her, of course, a fear that she would reject him, not to mention his fear of how the team would react, how it would affect his leadership abilities by clouding his vision during dangerous situations… as well as creating a weakness villains could exploit. It was a sickening feeling, knowing that you couldn't tell the person you loved that you love them because you fear for their safety. He couldn't tell her, but what happened if he never got the chance? Robin's heart nearly stopped at the thought. He had to find her, and he would have to tell her how he felt… no matter the consequences.

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Beast Boy, as a dog, sniffed the ground, trying to track Starfire, checking where Terra had last seen her. What he found were two flowers picked clean of petals. Returning to normal, he lifted them, one of them had Terra's scent, and the other had Starfire's. He held each towards Terra who blushed, "These flower stems smell like you and Star."

"Uh… yeah… I picked one. I didn't see Starfire do it though…"

He looked down at the ground, lifting up a few of the petals, "Did you pull the petals off?"

Terra swallowed the hard lump that formed in her throat, "Yeah… I was just playing around…"

Beast Boy paused, hard in thought, which quickly turned into a migraine headache for him. Cringing a little due to wracking his brain he finally asked the only question that entered his mind coherently, "Why would you pick the petals off a flower?"

Terra blushed, scratching the back of her head, "I… sorta… kinda… wanted to see if you liked me…" her blush deepened, and Beast Boy looked even more confused, "you know, pulling the flower petals off… not that I really expected it to tell me the truth but…" she smiled sheepishly, "it couldn't hurt, right?"

Beast Boy's mind raced, Terra wanted to see if he liked her, which he'd been trying to say for so long… ignoring everything else he lunged to his feet and embraced her. She was frozen solid, "Of course I like you Terra…"

Terra calmed down immediately, a great deal of weight lifted from her chest although it had taken some rather uncomfortable explaining. Then her eyes went wide, Starfire's flower, "Beast Boy… how many of the petals are on the ground smell like Starfire?"

Beast Boy scratched his head and then returned to dog form, wandering over to the pile of flower petals and smelling them. It took a few seconds, and then he returned too normal, "She pulled off seven."

Terra counted them off on her fingers, "He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not, he loves me…" Terra bit her lip; Starfire had ended on he loves me, things would be ok; Star was probably just too shy to actually say anything to Robin... yeah… that was it. Terra smiled and looked to Beast Boy who was grinning insanely, then smiled. A brisk evening wind struck them as Beast Boy grasped her hands, blowing away the petals and the single petal Beast Boy had missed.

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Titans Tower, set on an island in the bay of Jump City, was an imposing sight to most people. The giant T shaped tower stood high, a gleaming symbol of hope and security to the citizens of the city. However, it was dark now, the lights off and it was invisible compared to the vibrant skyline of the rest of the city. It wasn't how it should be, Robin thought to himself as he reached the entrance. He wasted no time rushing inside, running up the stairs and checking the operations room, training room, roof, and any other room before finally coming to Starfire's own room. He should have checked that first, he thought to himself numbly, and he lifted his fist to knock on it lightly.

There was a long pause from the inside; she wasn't there, not in the tower… Robin had turned to leave when he heard Starfire, in an oddly weak voice, call out, "Who is there?"

His heart leapt to his throat and he sighed with relief, "Star thank God… we were worried sick about you."

The silence was abrupt, she didn't reply and the door separating them stayed shut. Robin stayed there for a moment, an uneasiness building within him, "Starfire, are you ok?"

"I would like to be left alone…" She said slowly.

Robin felt sick to his stomach; she wanted him to leave her alone? He bowed his head, "Ok…" He turned to leave, but something gnawed at him, he had to speak to her, but she didn't want to speak to him, he had to think fast. But there was nothing he could talk about… he was trained for combat, not conversation. His hand clenched, but fell to his waist, brushing against the communicator, of course! The communicator, she hadn't responded. Maybe it was broken, a weak thing to talk about, but it was still something. Robin turned back to the door, vigor and confidence returning, "Starfire, before I go, I just wanted to tell you I think we need to repair your communicator, I called earlier and you didn't respond. I think it might be broken."

"I heard it."

Robin stood there for a moment a bit shocked, "You did?"

"Yes…"

"Starfire…" His hands fell to his sides in exasperation, "why didn't you respond? We could have been in trouble, the city might have been in danger…" His voice trailed off as a faint noise drifted through the door. Robin leaned forward, pressing his ear against the door. What he heard made him cringe. She was crying.

He trailed off as he heard her begin to cry. He did not want to hear that, he had hurt her feelings. A feeling of sickness returned to him and he cringed, he had made Starfire cry. How could he be such an IDIOT! "I am… sniff sorry. I sniff did not mean to sniff worry you…"

"I… er… um…" Robin tried to think up a quick response, failing miserably, but it seemed that he didn't need to, as the door to Starfire's room opened and she spilled out onto him, holding his sleeves and lying against his chest. He flushed red, but she didn't notice, tears streaming down from her face, dampening his uniform. It wasn't fair… she wanted to be with him so badly, but he didn't love her. She loved him, but he didn't love her. How could life be so unfair?

Robin placed his arms around her, "Star, it's alright, it's no big deal, we were just worried… I was worried."

Starfire looked up, her cheeks swollen and red from crying so much, "I did not mean to worry you."

"Starfire…" He sighed and held her close, pulling her head to his chest, she seemed to relax, letting go of his sleeves and wrapping her arms around him in a soft hug. He could stand there forever, in her embrace, a soft, tender touch from her made him enjoy life so much more than anything else. He had to tell her, and he had to do it now, "Starfire… there is something I need to tell you."

Starfire tensed, her hands tightening for a moment and then releasing him as he released her. The one moment she had enjoyed since learning that he didn't love her had ended as abruptly as it had started. He was probably going to tell her that he didn't want to see her again…

"Starfire… I… l…" why was he freezing up like this? He HAD to tell her, he had to! Closing his eyes he let out a breath and decided to say it as quickly as he could, "StarfireIloveyou."

He closed his eyes reflexively, and then forced one open waiting for a response. Starfire looked shocked, if he hadn't known what he just said, he might have thought someone had just slapped her. She was blinking rapidly, mouth moving without any words coming out. Then she just stopped, blinked once more, and in a shaking voice, asked him, "Did you say you love me?"

"Yes…" Robin forced the word out of his mouth.

"I love you too. I love you too Robin." Tears started streaming down her face again, and she grabbed him again, this time with bone breaking force, more than enough to drive the air from his lungs.

"Star… air…"

Releasing him she turned an even darker shade of red, "I am sorry, I had been lied to earlier and I was told that you did not love me… and I was afraid and I was afraid of what you would said…"

Robin managed to keep up with Starfire's ramblings for only a few moments, but caught what he needed to, "Who told you I didn't love you?"

She looked to the floor, ashamed, "The flower did."

"Flower? But Star… flowers can't even talk…" Robin said out loud, kicking himself seconds later for uttering such an idiotic comment.

She looked up, an uneasy smile plastered on her face, "Terra pulled a flower from the ground and pulled off petals and then it said that 'He loved her' and she was happy, but when I pulled a flower from the ground it said 'He loved me not' and I was afraid that ou did not love me and…"

Robin placed a finger across her lips as her eyes watered a little, "Sshh… it's ok, I do love you Star, that's just something little kids and… Terra do. It doesn't mean it's true." Starfire hugged him again this time driving the air from his lungs, but not breaking bones.

"I was scared."

Robin drew in a breath, pulling Starfire off him a bit, smiling at her weakly, "You don't have to be scared." They fell into another embrace just enjoying being with each other until Robin realized the other Titans were still looking for her. With a sigh, he pulled away, "I'm going to go get the others, and I'll bring you back some flowers…" He smiled at her and she giggled, "… and these ones won't lie."

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That evening Cyborg and Raven found themselves watching the couples sitting on the couch, relaxing and lying all over each other. Terra and Beast Boy were both grinning like the idiots they were, while Robin and Starfire looked contented just being together. Looking at Raven, Cyborg cleared his throat, "You know…"

Without turning to look at him she cut him off, "If you even suggest we follow suit your circuitry will explode."

Cyborg cringed, looking back at the cuddling couples on the couch. He pointed at them, "… That is disgusting…"

"Better." Raven said, then turned and left the couples to enjoy their own company.


End file.
